Lawyers and advance care and end-of-life planning: Enhancing collaboration between legal and health professions.

In Australia and internationally, advance care planning (ACP) is emphasised as an important means by which individuals can express their wishes for health care during future periods of incapacity. ACP has mainly been promoted in health care settings and very little is said about the role of lawyers, despite the fact that some people are more likely to discuss their health care wishes with a lawyer than with a doctor. This article addresses this significant gap and advocates for collaboration between legal and health professionals to assist clients with advance care and end-of-life planning. It articulates the importance of law and lawyers in ACP and discusses the medical-legal partnership model as a means to increase inter-professional collaboration. It analyses how collaboration can tackle client, practitioner and system-centred barriers and recognise ACP as a preventive legal and health care practice that supports clients’ interests and promotes their autonomy.